Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
(17)
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| dairy free, gluten free | |
| Hands-on time: | |
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| Baking time: | |
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| Yield: | Yield: two 8" or 9" round layers. |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or brown rice flour blend*
- 1 cup (3 ounces) Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
- 2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer, optional
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
- *See recipe for this blend below.
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8" or 9" round pans.
2) In a medium mixing bowl (not the bowl of your stand mixer), whisk together the sugar, multi-purpose flour or brown rice flour blend, cocoa, Cake Enhancer, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum.
3) Place the oil, eggs, water, and vanilla into your mixer bowl, and beat well.
4) Blend in the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time, beating for 1 minute and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition.
5) Once all of the dry ingredients have been added, beat at medium-high speed for 2 minutes, to make a smooth batter.
6) Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
7) Bake the cakes for 30 to 33 minutes, about 3 to 4 minutes past the point where a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. The cakes' internal temperature should be 210°F.
8) Remove the cakes from the oven, and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn them out of the pans to cool completely on a rack.
Yield: two 8" or 9" round layers.
*Make your own blend
Many of our gluten-free recipes use our King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour, which includes ingredients that reduce the grittiness sometimes found in gluten-free baked goods. Our flour also increases the shelf life of your treats, keeping them fresh longer.
The following make-at-home blend, featuring stabilized brown rice flour, works pretty well when substituted; and it tastes better than a blend using regular brown rice flour.
Whisk together 6 cups (32 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch; and 1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. Store airtight at room temperature. Note: You can substitute white rice flour for the brown rice flour if you like; it'll make your baked goods grittier (unless you manage to find a finely ground version).
Reviews
05/21/2012- I made these cupcakes for my daughters birthday and they were wonderful. You couldn't tell they were gluten-free. They were not dry or crumbly; I used my stand mixer and followed the mixing instructions. The kids LOVED them. I topped them with KAF Seven-Minute Frosting recipe & sprinkles. I will definitely make these again. THANK YOU!
- 02/04/2012
- I decided to make this today for my daughter's birthday cake tomorrow. I made 2 batches because I am using a 12" round cake pan (requires 7.5 cups of batter) and this recipe makes exactly 7 cups batter. I followed this recipe exactly and had wonderful results. I did use the cake enhancer, and it was my first time using it. I don't have a comparison of this recipe without it, but I can't wait to try it in one of my known recipes. I used the extra to make mini cupcakes. These baked in exactly 15 minutes and are light, fluffy and hold their shape once cooled. Delicious. Not grainy at all and it doesn't taste gluten-free. The large cake is beautiful, it domed some in baking but as it cooled it lost the dome and is nice and flat. It baked at 350 for exactly 35 minutes (larger pan baking time). I used cooking spray and it came out of the pan perfectly. It didn't even require cutting from the side.
02/01/2012- I'm giving this a 3 based on my batch, however, I made some modifications to the recipe. I made cupcakes instead of a layer cake and baked them for ~25 minutes. It made 17 cupcakes. Instead of using the King Arthur GF flour (or making my own mix), I used Namaste's gluten-free "Perfect Flour Blend Mix," which contains sweet brown rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, sorghum flour, and xanthan gum. I excluded the additional xanthan gum since the mix contained it already. The cupcakes rose well in the oven, and they have a fluffy, dark chocolate appearance when pulled apart. The cake has a slightly bitter taste and a somewhat grainy texture. I wonder if the bitter flavor could be from one or more of the flours in the mix (?). I should have probably used the additional xanthan gum to help with the grainy texture, as I now learn from reading others' comments. I used the Seven Minute Frosting recipe to top them off (so that they are dairy-free as well as gluten-free), and this definitely helps to cover up the slightly bitter flavor.
The result of the texture of this cake was due to your substitution of the flour mix. The chocolate cake recipe was not formulated in consideration of this particular mix that you used, and because the ingredients and amounts vary, it is difficult to successfully apply baking mixes to recipes. I imagine the bitterness is from the sorghum flour that was in the mix. ~Amy
01/27/2012- I made this chocolate cake a couple weeks ago. I added one more egg and changed the water to buttermilk to adjust for high altitude. The cake baked up in fluffy, moist layers. It had a bit of a grainy taste to it, I?m guessing from the brown rice in the flour. It was not bad, but it still kind of tasted like a ?health food? chocolate cake, not a regular one. I topped it with an orange-cream cheese frosting with an orange-chocolate ganache filling. I froze the majority of it, and eating it chilled seems to take away some of the grain flavor.
Usually the xanthan gum will prevent the texture from being grainy. Perhaps the batter was not mixed long enough to properly activate the xanthan gum. We'd be happy to answer any questions on our baker's hotline. ~Amy
- 01/22/2012
- Absolutely the best gluten free chocolate cake!! Substituted the double dutch powder for just regular Hershey's cocoa, and make cupcakes instead of a cake!! SUPER MOIST & DELICIOUS! This will be my new go to chocolate cake recipe!
- 12/25/2011
- Delicious taste but a bit dry and very heavy/dense. Maybe b/c I didn't use the optional cake enhancer?
I'm sorry this did not turn out the way you expected. Leaving out the cake enhancer would not make it heavy and dense. When you measure your flour do you dip your cup directly into the flour? If so, you may end up with 20% more flour than you need in a recipe. We recommend measuring flour this way: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/measuring-flour.html. If you have specific questions, please give us a call on the Baker's Hotline and we'll be happy to help troubleshoot! ~Mel
- 10/08/2011
- This cake is amazing. I made it in a 9x13 inch pan and topped with a rich cocoa frosting. It got rave reviews from mostly gluten eaters. The cake rose well and was so moist and tender. No one would ever guess that it was gluten free. This will be my go to recipe for chocolate cake from here on out.
- 10/05/2011
- wonderful cake - you can not tell this is gluten free!!
- 09/07/2011
- I made these as cupcakes for someone with gluten and dairy sensitivities. They tasted pretty good with a vegan chocolate ganache I made on top. However they were somewhat dry and didn't rise very much. Any tips to keep them moist would be welcome
We suggest checking out our Gluten-Free Cake Enhancer. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/cake-enhancer-10-oz That should do the trick! ~JDT@KAF
- 08/23/2011
- Very delicious and chocolatey cake. Everyone loved it....even those who can consume gluten! I did add 1 t. instant espresso powder and substituted 2 T. instant mashed potato flakes for the cake enhancer which I didn't have. I increased the vanilla to 1 T. Next time, in place of water I will use coffee. I'd also like to try using 1/3 C. unsweetened applesauce for part of the oil...not sure how that change will work with gluten free flour though.
